Kelso pest destruction worker Jason Rogers and his son Dwyane (4). Photo / Stephen Jaquiery
It takes a fair bit of pluck to be a possum dispatcher.
Just ask Jason Rogers, the West Otago owner of Aotearoa Pest Control, who works with farmers in the area to rid their properties of pesky pests.
He is a rural man through-and-through; throughout his career, he has done everything from farming to shearing.
But after accidents had taken a toll on his body, he decided it was time to go back to what he had always done — pest control, an occupation he could do at his own pace.
Just like the now-trendy nose-to-tail dining experiences, Rogers uses a similar philosophy in his own business.
Possums were plucked for their fur and then the meat was dispatched for pet food, rather than the carcass being "thrown down a gully", he said.
Using the animal was something he was passionate about and it was his dream to open a manufacturing operation at Kelso, where he lives, to produce pet food and possum fur products.
Like most things, the possum fur trade had been hit by Covid-19 and prices were down from the usual of about $130/kg this time of year, to about $100/kg.
Fuel costs had increased and the tourist market — a major buyer of possum fur products — had been decimated, but that trade would pick up again.
There were big outlays for anyone wanting to get in the game; the hand-plucked fur market was a "just about completely gone" so a machine plucker was required.
Rogers uses a motorbike to get around on and said that required "a fair bit of fuel" to get to some of his blocks.
He recalled coming home with 200 or 300 rabbits on his bikes when he first got into pest control years ago.
Others saw that and wanted to get into it. But they might last a month as they discovered it was hard work, he said.
There were other, less tangible benefits; he had observed a lot of "fascinating" animal behaviour and enjoyed hearing a return of birdlife, including wood pigeons, in areas he was working in.
Rogers said he had sympathy for farmers, many of whom were lambing. He knew what it was like to work up to 14 hours a day on-farm and the last thing they wanted to then do was go out shooting pests.
"That's when accidents happen," he said.
He had seen first-hand the destruction and problems that could occur if pest numbers were allowed to "take off".
"We're not out there ... for the sake of killing an animal. Everything's got a life, everything has to be controlled or else we'll have a disaster," he said.
He was particularly concerned about the planting of trees occurring on previous farmland, saying the pest destruction side was not being considered.
"Once the trees get up, they'll never get them," he said, adding that was particularly the case for those trees that would not be pruned.
He could see the "writing on the wall" for something major to happen and he believed New Zealand would never achieve its target of becoming predator-free if the plantings kept happening.
Plantations of pine trees also sucked up water and, as a former firefighter, he suggested planes should be kept on stand-by during fire season because of the potential fire risk.
He was also concerned about the effect on food supply and the potential loss of jobs in rural communities.
By one day opening his own enterprise, he hoped to create more jobs, buying direct off farmers in the area and creating a cycle.
His own children knew the circle of life and he was grateful knowing that, if they ever got hungry, they knew what they could eat and they had something to fall back on, like pest control, to make money.
His wife was a keen spinner and they also knew how to keep warm with natural fibres such as possum fur and wool.
While he did not have a particular penchant for possum meat, Rogers said it was hard to beat hare backstrap, soaked in milk and then roasted or fried. That was "absolutely beautiful".
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